Project House Rewatch: House 3 – The Horror Show?

House 3: The Horror Show

Now, here’s the thing about House 3. The title House 3 does not appear in this version of the film. It’s just The Horror Show. I had to do a little digging to find out why.

So, the film was intended to be an entry into the House series, but when finished marketed under a different title as the producers thought it was too intense in comparison to the previous House movies. Well, House II was almost entirely comedy and little horror. This one restores the balance.

 There are warning signs that all didn’t go well in the production too, with the notorious Alan Smithee listed among the screenwriters. Apparently, there was a very late change in director when James Isaac was brought in.

There’s something about this whole farrago that I don’t get. They feared the film was too intense. If they didn’t want intense, why the hell did they cast Lance Henriksen in the lead?

I love you, Lance, but you face doesn’t scream light-hearted comedy horror romp.

I have a theory. There are House-like elements in the script. It could have been performed in such a way to draw out the comedy. However, when Lance Henriksen turned up on set, everything automatically became incredibly intense, forever altering the franchise.

There wasn’t supposed to blood in this scene, but when Lance turned up, the set just started bleeding out of fear.

What about the film itself?

Well, after the credits it starts with a long shot of the house. You know, like a House film. There are a few shots like this which give away that the film was part to be in the franchise.

Pretty early on we find out how intense this film is. Lance is hunting for a bad guy with his cop partner. He goes into an industrial kitchen, and there’s blood everywhere. There’s a pair of legs sticking out of a meat grinder. There’s a deep-fried head. Ignoring the idea whether this is a house movie in not, it’s a really effective opening with great effects.

Lance (I have no idea what the character’s name was. He was Lance Henriksen to me.) tussles with the bad guy, (he’s called Jinky – you don’t forget that name) then wakes from the nightmare. Then his wife turns into Jinky and stabs him in the chest with a cleaver. A nightmare within a nightmare. It kind of fits with the House thing, going back to the first movie – dreams and past experiences and fears controlling your mind.

In reality, Jinky has been captured and is going to the electric chair. He swears to get revenge on Lance.

He survives the first shot and delivers the line “All that did was give me a hard-on!”

They turn up the juice and eventually his head explodes.

Of course, that’s not the end of Jinky. This film was made and released the same year as Shocker, which has a very similar premise.

The next section of the film is pretty effective. Jinky messes with Lance. He sees Jinky everywhere, but then Jinky frames Lance for murder.

It’s a shame the end is so muddled though. When Lances faces off against Jinky, it’s difficult to tell what’s really happening, what’s in his head, and what is a manifestation of the house. The stuff with the pregnancy and the baby is beyond strange.

So 70% of this movie is effective, but it’s not just the end that lets it down. Lance has two kids. The daughter is a pretty big part of the plot. The son, however, is bizarre. He’s cheating companies out of products, complaining to get freebies, so he’s got boxes and boxes of Nesquik. It might have fit in a traditional House film, but this whole aspect feels weird here.

I imagine Lance Henriksen pulls a gun on the TV pretty regularly.

Overall, I think it’s a decent film, until the confusing ending. Lance is brilliant in the role of Lance Henriksen, but also the guy playing Jinky is having as absolute ball with this character. The effects are decent. I can understand the decision not to market it as a House film, as the tone is off – but the tone has been a problem in every film I’ve watched so far.

I enjoyed it a lot more than House II. It didn’t have the nostalgia of the original, but I reckon it still gives it a run for its money.

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